James Anderson
Third-year Halifax History student and Happily Ever After Society Chair “Janderson” says his top priority is “strong integration between all student activities” focusing on cooperation between RAG, Volunteering and societies.
He wants to make running a society less daunting by emphasising the support side of his role, and updating the societies handbook. Such updates would include guidance on how societies can access Central Hall, and more information on fundraising rules. “I want to make people aware of what they can do, rather than just telling them what they can’t do,” he says.
Another important policy is the aim to create a communal online space for all student actvities to be posted, as he feels that relying on Facebook to advertise events isn’t good enough as it can’t always be accessed by all students.
“What I want to see hosted on the University service and the University website is an interactive, real time Student Activities event planner,” explains Anderson. “I’m talking about a calendar that societies can log into using their society admins and post up when they’re going to have events – it is better than blog posts which are easily lost.”
When asked how he would ensure the online space was actually utilised, he replied, “it’s like a domino effect, once people start using it and knowing about it, others will follow.”
James has no previous YUSU experience but, he told Vision that “I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t feel like I had the passion and drive to do this.” His enthusiasm for the role is inspired by his own experiences: “student activities have made me who I am.”
ODDS TO WIN: 5/1 He has the performance societies’ vote, but what about everyone else?
Student Activities: James Anderson produced by York Student Television, released under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license
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James Croydon
Halifax Politics student and RAG Officer Croydon says that the one policy that is most important to him is his plan to push for an extension of society block grants and use the extra money to provide free society vouchers to freshers. This would mean that “every single fresher could get involved with societies from day one.”
Croydon also wants to create a new “Societies Week” to go alongside the Volunteering and RAG week events which currently exist, saying “I really want to celebrate the societies that we have.” The new week would combine elements of ReFreshers’ week and Woodstock to form a societies schowcase during the summer term.
Speaking about Nick Scarlett’s successes last year he told Vision “I would love to have a focus now on making the floorspace that has been opened up more suitable for purpose.” He went on to talk about societies’ equipment, saying “throughout my research it became apparent that several societies were asking for the same thing. Rather than giving small amounts of money out here and there and buying pretty average resources I believe it would be a better idea for me to say ‘let’s just get a top quality resource and you can all use it when you want.'”
Croydon admits that his experience outside RAG is somewhat limited, “I never actually got really involved in committees in my first year, if I could do it again I would and that’s why I want to do the society vouchers.” However, he does have big plans if he is elected, “I would love to get societies committee up and running in a better way. I’d feel that they could coordinate a lot better with RAG and Volunteering committees then. That would be beneficial all year round.”
ODDS TO WIN: 2/1 He can rely on RAG, but can he RAISE any more support?
Student Activities: James Croydon produced by York Student Television, released under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license
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Arthur Pitt
Another Halifaxer, History student and Chair of the Lemon Press, Pitt describes himself as an “all round chum.” He’s running a campaign that is mostly focused on space – “I know that’s something that a lot of people are going to be talking about, it’s certainly not an original idea, but it is something that needs to be addressed. He gives the example of the Yoga Society, whose president keeps mats at his own house due to a lack of space on campus. He cites Grimston House and Langwith, as potential places to find this space – as well as areas that he says he’s been promised exist, though he doesn’t know where they are.
Pitt praises Nick Scarlett’s successes in securing the Derwent Squash Courts for performance societies, but expresses concern at the funding system that is in place for societies. He proposes a system similar to York Sport, based on a formula, though with space for changing expenses year on year. “You can’t factor [expenses] into a mathematical equation, of course, and that’s different to Sports where costs are more or less the same year-on-year.”
One theme that runs throughout Pitt’s policies is improving the relationship between Student Activities and York Sport, utilising his experience playing for the University. When asked if he should be running for Sport President instead, he rejects the idea, “because I think Activities is my main area. I’m talking about co-operation, I don’t want to get in the way of how Sam or Ben runs York Sport next year. At a lot of universities, Sports and Student Activities are run by the same person – that’s why I talk about it, because sports and societies have similarities which you can’t ignore.”
ODDS TO WIN: EVENS Has one of the most memorable campaigns. He says he has the media vote… but does he?
Student Activities: Arthur Pitt produced by York Student Television, released under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license